Time and Again
by garotte
Summary: Time repeats itself as the Weiss and Schwarz boys are reborn and brought together to finish what they couldn't last time, but this time, they're working together. CS, AY
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am sorry to say that all my begging has gotten me nowhere. I still do not own Weiss Kreuz. TT

**Circles of Time**

The narrow alleyway was littered with refuse. Mostly scraps of leftover food which had been thrown out by either the night club which bordered the alley to the left, or the run down bar to the right. In the thick, muggy heat it undoubtedly stunk terribly. Not that it could smell it, or anything really, but that was only to be expected of something that wasn't actually _there_. It could not smell or touch anything. Even emotions and the noise of its own thoughts were muted in this form. It did not need them. Now it waas nothing but a watcher, a formless presence searchin for the pieces and patterns to a puzzles that should have been solved a lifetime ago.

_**SLAM **_

_thump_

_There._ The presence willed itself a few feet to the left and watched the youth pick himself up from where he had just been shoved through the side door of the nightclub. The presence studied the boy closely in the little light produced from the old streetlamp across the street and half a block away. Thick, mussed dark hair which fell in a wild tangle half way to his waist spilled over ghostly pale shoulders, obscuring an almost delicate face. A small, willowy body that could not have been more than twelve years old was almost dressed in an assortment of shiny black leather and criss-crossing straps that did more to frame tantalizing bits of ivory skin than to offer actual clothing.

With a a wince of pain and a muffled curse snarled out in a language that the presence should not have understood, the youth pulled himself up and more fully into the uncertain light. Weak, yellow beams revealed a mane of shining flame, flames which seemed to dance, catching the dirty light in fast, brilliant flashes as the boy roughly shoved his hair back from his face and turned sharp, acid green eyes to look suspiciously around the alley.

The boy's gaze stopped where the presence was, or at least where it would have been had it actually _been_ there. Obvious confusion showed on the boy's face as he tried to pinpoint just what was so unnerving unnerving about that spot. The presence felt a rising sense of muted satisfaction at the proof of his theory. The youth was not yet fully awakened, but it was happening, already, even now it was happening.

The satisfaction turned into vague irritation as a large, bulky, and obviously drunk man staggered through the still open doors and reached out to drag the boy over to him and shove him roughly back to his knees. There was the sound of paper hitting pavement as the big man tossed a small wad of money onto the ground next to the boy.

"Make it quick brat," the old man grated out in a rasping, drunken slur. "Mah girlfrien's gonna be here in twenny minutes."

The boy, having put aside his strange feelings for later contemplation, seemed to be seriously considering simply taking the money and making a run for it.Thoughts of escape were quickly shot down as the grabbed a fistful of thick, silky hair and dragged the boy's head back until angry emerald eyes met his own.

"Don' even think aboud it little whore." the man said with a greasy smirk, alcohol slurring his words. "Just do what yer tol' an' maybe I won' hurd yeh to bad."

Not bothering to hide the utter disgust on his face, the boy reached toward the fastenings of the man's pants, and with a vicious snarl tugged them open bending his head to get the job over with as quickly as possible.

"Aaaahhhhh. Tha's it." murmured the old man, as he tangled his hands in thick silken hair.

Through all this, the irritation of the presence had been rising until finally it had evolved into a homicidal rage.

'How dare he!' It thought murderously. 'How dare he touch what is _mine_!'

Abruptly, the vision of the kneeling boy and his customer began to break apart. The shattered pieces dissolving and flowing together as a ripple went through the very fabric of reality. No! Not yet! Not _now_! But it had been to long. It, no _he_, he had been gone to long, stretched to far. His own ingrained training and survival instincts were dragging him back.

Streets and then cities and then countries began to run together. Miles and miles of ocean blue. All of it tangled up with the very flow of time itself. One great writhing manifestation of true chaos, before all returned to darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

**Time and Again**

_click_

"-ust a day, just annnnn ordinary day. Just trying to get byyyy"

"Ughh." Bradley struggled against the sweat-soaked sheets holding him prisoner in an attempt to free an arm and reach the SNOOZE button on his radio alarm clock without having to actually open his eyes. Managing finally to shut off the 'voice' of a straining Vanessa Carlton (though only after scraping his knuckles against the splintery edge of his wooden desk, and a close call with his still half-full cup of water from the night before) he pulled his arm back into the safety of the blankets and tried to calm himself with the deep breathing exercises his mother had taught him. Turning a raven-topped head feeling heavy and full of what felt to be packed, wet sand, he squinted at the unforgiving, acid green light coming from a foot to the left of his head and growled. His digital alarm clock was telling him in no uncertain terms that it was 4:00 in the morning. Three hours before his customary rousing time.

Who the _hell_ had set his alarm for_ 4:oo in the morning_!

And on the subject of annoying questions, why on earth were his sheets all sweaty?

Oh...right.

Stifling a groan at his own idiocy, he forced himself to go back over every aspect of his drea-.

No. _Vision. _After all, _she_ would want _some_ sort of excuse and-.

_"MORON!" _a high-pitched female voice screeched in his ear. Although, he wondered absently, was she really screeching if no one else could hear her?

With a sigh, Bradley sat up and reached over to turn on his bedside lamp and grab his glasses, wondering vaguely what form the…_thing_ had taken this time, examining her ( it seemed to prefer female forms for some reason) as she continued on with her tirade. This form could have been the perfect match for the little sister he didn't have. She looked to be about six years old with chin length, shiny black hair and big brown eyes behind glasses that were miniature versions of his own. A ridiculously cute pink sundress patterned with tiny yellow and orange sunflowers swished violently as she paced a tight circle, and when she stopped, small, scuffed white tennis shoes stomped angrily to accentuate her point.

Bradley couldn't suppress a creeped out shudder.

"YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER _IDIOT!"_ she continued, words at odds her innocent appearance. And then in a slightly softer, and much more menacing tone, "After all the trouble I went through for you. All the planning and manipulation. Not to even _mention_ all the favors I now owe to some rather unsavory people. All of it almost _ruined_ because you're pining over some street-savvy whore!"

"Yes," said Bradley readily. He completely agreed and was still too groggy to argue with her even if he hadn't. "It was foolish and unacceptably clumsy but-"

"_CLUMSY," _she shrieked, "It was more than just _clumsy. _That old creep was probably an agent of the Other side!" An edge of hysteria entered her voice. "If he sensed you you're DEAD! You may as well throw yourself over a cliff and save Them the trouble!" Full blown panic now. "We're going to have to start all over again!"

Painfully shrill wails of terror shot nuclear missiles, blasting straight through his eardrums to detonate in his skull, decimating defenseless brain cells, demolishing pillars of rational thought, and sending agonizing aftershocks through throbbing temples.

"The Boss is going to _murder _me!" she howled. And then blinked. She stopped and appeared to consider. Hopefully a sign of returning rationale. "No, no," she muttered. "He's not that nice...I'll be _flayed alive!"_

And straight back to the howling. Bradley determinedly suppressed a pained whimper.

"DRAWN AND QUARTERED!" she wailed. "Bisected, dissected, roasted over a _bloody SPIT!_ I'll be-" _SMACK_

Bradley raised one hand to cradle his throbbing head and looked cautiously over the edge of his bed at the little girl shaped…._thing, _that was now sprawled out over the thick, shag carpeting of his bedroom floor. She wasn't moving. He wondered vaguely whether he should glare at her or run away screaming and forced himself not to cringe as she slowly rose to her feet and turned an oddly calm, and decidedly terrifying, gaze on him.

"That _hurt,"_ she growled, reaching up small, pale fingers to rub against the large hand print that stood out an angry red against her small, pale cheek.

Bradley looked down to regard his own hand, which was starting to sting from the slap. "Sorry," he murmured quietly, a rather blatant lie.

She shrugged. "No problem," she said cheerily, shifting moods so fast that it left the boy a bit dazed. "What were you saying?"

Bradley groaned as his migraine sent a stabbing pain through his brain that made his vision even fuzzier than normal and his skull feel like it was splitting in half. Closing headache sensitive eyes against the harsh, yellow light, he moved his other hand to cradle the other side of his head. Maybe if he applied pressure from both sides…

"Braaadleey," she whined in an eerie impersonation of the little girl she was pretending to be. "Pay attention to meee."

He shuddered at the sound of the all too familiar whining elongation of his name. The only thing that kept him from looking wildly around for Schul- _(DON"T THINK IT!) _was the tone. Several octaves higher, and decidedly more female than the redhe- _(STOP IT!) _

"Brad?"

"Shut up!" he snarled at her, still shaken from the almost-memory, and reasonably confident that she wasn't going to smite him from existence for hitting her.

"Listen," he said quietly, trying to sound reasonable. "I know that they can't hear you unless you want them to, but what are my parents going to think when they wake up at-" he paused to look at the clock and sighed, "4:08 in the morning to find who they think is their perfectly respectable and perfectly _sane_ fourteen year old son talking, apparently to _himself_, about _telepaths _in_ Germany."_

"Oh, don't worry about _that," _she said breezily. "I sort of 'suggested' to them that they should sleep straight through 'till nine, and just ignore any bothersome little noises they may happen to hear. That way, we can talk as long as we want and you can still get a few more hours of sleep." At this, she bared her teeth in a cute little aren't-I-so-sweet-and-adorable-that-you-just-want-to-cuddle-me-to-death? smile.

Bradley wasn't having any of it.

Except perhaps the 'death' bit.

He groaned, "are you the one who set my alarm then? And anyway, if you're so powerful and supernatural that _suggesting_ things like that is child's play, why am I the one doing all the searching? If you did it yourself, you'd have nothing to complain about."

This time it was her turn to groan aloud. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did tamper with your alarm a bit, since you never seem to appreciate it when I wake you myself, and I've explained this already. Our side can't interfere directly, but neither can the Other side. We're too powerful. I know you have trouble understanding this, but if we _did_ fight face-to-face on this plane of existence, the property damage would make the whole thing worthless. That's the whole reason for the Agreement. On this plane, we only use pawns (that's you by the way, and when I say _pawns _I do of course mean it in the nicest way possible) to maneuver and fight the battle. The actual all-out War won't happen for several millennia, and it will be on another plain of existence entirely. So you don't even need to worry about it in this incarnation. Anyway-"

"Wait a moment," Brad interrupted, running a hand nervously through sleep tousled hair a shifting absently in the sheets. "Are you saying I'm actually going to be _around_ for this _Great War_!"

"Oh," she said evasively, "I imagine you'll have _something_ to do with it. _Anyway._ As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. On this plane we're only allowed to use native pawns. The only way we can interfere at all is by giving the some rather vague guidelines. Guidelines which have to be agreed upon by both sides before the one side can actually give them. The only reas-"

"_Wait_ a minute. Are you saying you have to get approval from the _enemy_ before you can give me information! How the hell does that work in a war? What's to keep the other side from simply cheating!"

"Stop interrupting me!" she whined. "And like I told you before, this is a _battle,_ not _the War._ And certain conditions have to be met before the actual battle can even take place. Most of the conditions have already been agreed upon. Now it's just a matter of meeting them in a way that's fair to both sides. The two sides share information to make sure we don't run over each other and throw all the conditions to hell. And what keeps each side from cheating is the fact that, if they do, the chances of a direct battle starting are increased _astronomically._ Neither side is ready for that yet, and this plane is too important to become just another cosmic casualty through pure carelessness.

"_Anyway._ As I was explaining before you got me off on a tangent, the Agreement states (among other things) that on this plane, no direct interference is aloud and that we must operate entirely through our pawns (oh dear, I really should find a better word for that shouldn't I?). The only reason I'm aloud this much contact with you is because one of the lower (and stupider) members of the Other side cheated outrageously in your last incarnation, which was when the battle actually _should _have happened, but because of several mistakes on both sides, and that cheater's trick, it's now carried on to this lifetime."

"I thought you said there wasn't any cheating," said Bradley, the slightest touch of smugness coloring his tone.

"Well, we do try to avoid it, but in this particular incident, the perpetrator acted on his own, and since the Other side was more than a little upset about it, we sort of had to over look it ourselves. However, in return for-"

"Wait, wait, and I know, 'don't interrupt', but how did he cheat? And back to earlier, just what do you mean the battle _should_ have happened in my last incarnation? And if you people aren't allowed to interfere directly, what the hell are_ you _doing here!"

The entity's current expression gave indisputable proof that it was indeed possible for a six year old little girl to look lethal.

"I was _getting_ to that," she snarled. First of all, the idiot cheated when he had one of his human lackies knife down Aya in the fucking _street!"_

Oh, she looked really mad now. At least she seems to be mad at the cheater rather than me this time, thought Bradley vaguely, still a bit dazed from too much information invading his brain cells at, he glanced at the clock, 4:17 in the morning.

"Aya was supposed to be one of Our side's key players," she continued, seeming to get a hold of herself. "That's why the battle was supposed to take place in your last lifetime. A few more years and all of the conditions would have been met and the battle would have taken place, but since Aya died prematurely, we had to wait for things to come full circle again.

"Before you ask," she said, cutting him off just as he opened his mouth, "that's why things are the way they are now. I mean your lifestyle and everything. The actual process was stopped last time, but when we reviewed, we could find no problem with the conditions themselves. So we decided that we would simply take more extreme precautions this time to insure that there is no unnecessary interference.

"We've tried to recreate last time's conditions as closely as possible. We have made sure that even though the others haven't retained their memories from last time, there are some thing even Boss can't do, they will become the same kind of people. They will have the same living conditions, the same sorts of childhoods, and the same physical weaknesses from last time, your weak eyes for example.

"We've even gone so far as to insure that you all have the same physical appearances and names as last time. You're basically reliving your past lives. Going to this extreme with it wasn't totally necessary, but the boss thought that it would make it easier for the rest of them to regain their memories when you finally meet up again."

"I thought you said that they couldn't retain their memories," he said.

"Well, not _consciously,"_ she hesitated, apparently not exactly sure how to explain. "They certainly don't remember it now. But the memories of all past lives are buried in the soul and subconscious. The boss thinks that if there are enough similarities, and strong reminders, that it may be possible for their memories to return entirely."

The boys eyes widened as the possibilities sunk in.

"So you mean," he choked out, "that we could….start over?"

"_Possibly_," she conceded, "but you shouldn't get your hopes up. Your powers to see and effect things beyond the normal restraints of time is what preserved your memories. The others, though they did retain their own powers, are more closely bound by the normal laws of metaphysics."

"I see," he murmured, resolving to put the matter aside for later.

"All right then, but what about my earlier question, why exactly are you here. You've been visiting me in different forms at random times since this incarnation's fifth birthday, but you usually just stop and chat for a few minutes, so what's the point?"

"Well actually," she said, looking at him sheepishly, "most of those times were tests. To see if you could recognize me in different forms. After all, if you can recognize me, you can recognize the enemy. They were also one of the precautions that I was talking about. I was to make sure that the Other side wasn't tampering with you in any way. I had to do it with all the others too. The telepath recognized that _something _was watching him, and I think he figured out that I wasn't out to harm him, but even he didn't do as well as you did." She smiled at him with a sort of maternal pride. "_You _managed to figure out exactly who was watching you _and_ that it was the same entity every time no matter what form I used. You didn't even freak out when you realized I wasn't human.

"Anyway," she continued, expression smoothing over, " I'm also supposed to guide you. You know, help you develop your powers and find all the others. That's one of the bugs in Our plan. You never knew last time exactly where the others came from, except for the telekinetic because you found him yourself. For all the others, you only ever knew their country of origin. And just finding all of them is going to be the easy part. Bringing them all together and keeping them from killing each other without that…" She hesitated, not bothering to hide her distaste. "_Esset _organization to bind them together is going to take a bit of imagination.

"In reality, the telepath would have been the ideal one to start out with. His powers are more suited to be a psychic search party than your own, and thanks to those same powers he's better at manipulating people. He may have been able to gain your trust more easily than you will his. Not to even mention all the others, most of whom will probably be feeling residual distrust and animosity from last time.

"Unfortunately, since he didn't retain his memories, the interference on our part would have been too great if we had approached him. And since you did retain your memories, we couldn't exactly leave you to wander around making a mess of the plan while you tried to figure out what had happened. Also you're more-…umm," she cut herself off abruptly and hesitated.

Bradley looked amused.

"Understanding? Rational? _Easily controlled?_" he guessed. "Yes," he went on absently, smile becoming cold, "I suppose it _would_ seem that way wouldn't it. And with the…" he couldn't yet bring himself to say the name. "_telepath's_ hatred for authority, I imagine it would take a great deal more force, ah, _interference_ than you would be allowed to get him to actually cooperate with you."

"Aren't you perceptive." she muttered sarcastically. "Anyway, thanks to that it's going to be up to you to bring the seven of them together and into their full powers if they haven't already Awakened."

"Seven?" asked Bradley, attempting to remain calm in spite of the nasty suspicion forming in the back of his mind. "Don't you mean _three?"_

"Now, now Bradley," she said in a deceptively sweet voice, not bothering to hide the demonic smirk curling her cupid's bow lips. "Haven't you been paying attention? I seem to remember telling you at some point this morning that Aya-san was one of our _key- players."_

"Weiss." he said flatly. "You expect me to find _Weiss."_

Bradley felt a sort of mild shock settle over him. Oh, it wasn't that he had hated Weiss, but that was the point, he hadn't felt any particular emotion at all towards them. Had in fact, thought of them as little more than pawns that he couldn't allow his own team to kill until they had served their purpose in furthering his own plans. They had never seemed particularly important in the grand scheme of things. And even discounting all of that, there was always the fact that-

"They don't even have powers."

She frowned. "Well, you see, that was one of the mistakes on our part last time." she said thoughtfully. "They had powers a-plenty and strength equal to that of your own group, but for some reason, they were never _Awakened._ Unfortunately that's going to make it even harder on you this time around."

"Why weren't they ever Awakened? What went wrong?" he asked curiously.

"I don't actually know," she said, still thoughtful. "You see, we had different agents watching over each team. I was one of the one's assigned to Schwarz. I never really got the details on what the other guys were doing."

"So let me get this straight," he said skeptically. "You share information with the _enemy,_ but not with your _own side?"_

She looked sheepish now. "Well," she said hesitantly, "I never actually _asked_ you see. I figured that I didn't exactly need the input of total failures to do my job."

"Wouldn't you say that's a bit arrogant? 'Pride cometh before a fall' you know."

She scowled at him. "It doesn't actually matter anyway," she snapped. I'm not going to personally have anything to do with them this time around either."

He cocked his head thoughtfully, trying to remember something she'd said earlier.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Didn't you say that you have to periodically check up on the others just as you do with me? I would think that the information would be useful in that case."

"Actually," she said, feigning carelessness. "I believe I said that I _had_ to check up on the others. I won't need to anymore after tonight."

"Why not?" he asked curiously, then he smirked. "Let me guess, they took you off this case due to gross incompetence when they found out that you couldn't even hide yourself from one human boy."

"Oh not at all," she said cheerfully. If he had thought her smirk 'demonic' before, now it was positively _satanic._ "You see Bradley, Our side may be careless sometimes, but we always learn from our mistakes. Last time, the odds were fairly even and you guys still screwed it up. This time the odds are stacked against you and the Enemy owes us a favor. We're going to take full advantage of it. Now we've measured the odds against you with the trouble you're sure to have, and we've compared it to what the Enemy and the Agreement will let us get away with. After considering all that, we've decided that you're going to need the vague guidance and protection of a more reachable and more…._permanent_ kind."

"And just how," he choked out, fighting back the welling panic and desperately attempting to convince his stomach not to elope with his feet, "are you going to manage _that_?"

She turned to face him fully and favor him with a sweet little-girl smile before twirling around gracefully, causing the little pink and patterned sundress to flare around her knees charmingly.

"Well what do you think Bradley?" she asked sweetly, gesturing towards her latest form.

Bradley gave up the fight in favor of wishing his stomach good luck with his feet and bidding his sanity fair well.

"Come on now Bradley," she said with a silvery giggle. "Say hello to Becca, your brand new _baby sister."_

Bradley decided that that was as good a time as any to resume his interrupted sleep cycle.

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All right. I know that this jumps around and is a bit vague. But I did most of it on purpose. The first couple of chapters are going to be spent establishing the background and detailing the semi-alternate universe that I've got them all running around in. After that, then I'll start getting into the actual plot. Also, please try to keep in mind that, while this was done over the course of a few days, most of the actual writing took place between the hours of 2 and 5 in the morning, basically when there was nothing better to do. sighs I am so lazy.


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